Resolution 4 - Identity

Transcribed from our YouTube video:
10 Resolutions for the MediaWise.church - Resolution 4 - Identity

What’s the deal with memes? You know those sloppily hacked together images that everyone shares, forged on the scratchpad of social media, mutating with each generation, compounding the joke with each iteration.

Did you know that meme’s spread like wildfire because of identity. How’s that you say? 

Well, you will only share a meme that resonates with your experience, with your perceptions of reality, defined by the framework of your identity.

And when you identify so strongly with a meme, you simply can not resist sharing. So much so that not sharing feels like a betrayal of your core identity.

Memes spread purely on this momentum of identity and the felt pressure to make that identity known. That is to say, “this is my tribe”, and if you get this MEME, you are my people.

Identity.

Slogans are memes, but in written form. They encapsulate identity into simple, memorable, sharable catch phrases. 

“Stop the Gravy Train”, “Make America Great Again”, “Stop the Steal” 

Succinctly crafted assertions that fall on fertile ground, dig deep into the hearts of the target audience, and take root with incredible effectiveness.

Slogans work in the same way as memes. They understand the core identity of the hearers, and using the simplest of terms, appeal to deep-seated emotions, and dig their hooks into our psyches, regardless of established facts, and even in spite of contrary evidence. That is to say, “this is my tribe” and if you understand this slogan, you are my people.

Identity.

Slogans that resonate with core identity, aren’t subject to the scrutiny of facts, because no one is holding them to account, we’ve already capitulated, embraced them fully. Our sense of identity gives them a free pass.

Are we beginning to see the subtle danger of social media, when our identity is miscalibrated, misaligned, misunderstood? When we abandon, or simply forget, the identity God originally designed for us, and we settle for counterfeit identities.

Consider that memes and slogans are fundamentally predatory in nature, and feast on the debased emotions of our culture. It’s no wonder Paul warned us “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” Romans 12:2

The call is for a transformed identity. An identity that is incorruptible, resilient to the effects of memes and slogans. 

A transformation, described as an entirely “new creation” in 2 Corinthians 5:17. A new identity, not the default identity. 

An identity that is summed up in Colossians 3:4 when Paul proclaims that “Christ is your life”.

An identity that is contrary to the world, one where all the meme images fall short, except one image.

The image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), a meme so vivid, so compelling, it transforms us, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory, or put another way as we behold each glorious glimpse. 2 Corinthians 3:18

An identity where only one slogan resonates.

A slogan consisting of one word. A word that was with God in the beginning. A word that became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

That’s the identity we were created for. The resolve of the MediaWise.church is to reclaim our true identity in Christ.

Jesus is the slogan worth chanting. Jesus is the meme worth sharing.